Ants
Why Ants Nest So Close to Mill Hill Kitchens
The hill that shapes the gardens here, described on Pest Control Mill Hill, also shapes where ants nest. The black garden ant prefers dry, sunny ground and loves the space under a warm stone. A stepped garden offers plenty of both, often within a metre or two of the house.
Steps, walls and rockeries
Stone or brick steps, the joints in a retaining wall and the gaps in a rockery warm up quickly in the sun and stay dry underneath. Colonies can sit behind them for years. Fine soil spilling from a joint in spring or summer is often the only sign.
Kitchens at a lower level
Where the house sits below the garden, the kitchen or utility room can be almost at ground level with the bank outside. Ants follow the edge of the path to the back door and come in under the threshold, along a pipe or through a gap by the door frame. Why ants keep coming into the kitchen explains what draws them.
Flats and newer homes
In ground-floor flats at Millbrook Park or near the Broadway, ants usually nest under paving or a patio outside and come in at the patio door. Upper floors see them far less often.
Finding the Nest
- Follow a trail back from the kitchen to where it leaves the house
- Look for small heaps of fine soil at the edge of steps and paving
- Lift a stone or pot on a warm day and see if ants swarm underneath
- Check joints in retaining walls where the trail disappears
- Watch for flying ants coming out of one spot on a warm, humid day
Nests on a slope are often higher up the garden than the point where the trail enters the house, because the ants come down the steps or along the foot of a retaining wall to reach the door. Look uphill as well as beside the threshold. How to find an ant nest has more detail, and where ants nest around houses lists the usual spots.
Flying Ant Days on the Hill
On a few warm, humid days in summer, winged ants leave the nest in large numbers to mate. It is alarming but short-lived, and the winged ants do not start nests indoors. If they are coming from inside a wall or floor, that is worth reporting. Why flying ants appear indoors explains more.
Garden Ants or Pharaoh Ants?
Almost all ants in Mill Hill houses are garden ants from outside. Pharaoh ants are tiny, pale and live indoors in warm buildings, and are rare in houses. If you see very small, yellowish ants deep inside a heated flat, mention it when booking. Pharaoh ants and garden ants explains why.
Booking and What Happens
When you book ant control, say whether it is a house or a flat, where the ants are coming in, and where you think the nest is. Do not clean away the trail before the visit, as it shows where they are going. You will be told what was found and what to expect next; timing depends on the property and the nest, and how long ant treatment takes covers that.
Keeping Ants Outside
Wipe worktops, keep sweet food sealed and rinse recycling. Outside, reset loose paving by the back door, point gaps in low walls near the house and keep bins away from the threshold. For the borough-wide picture, see Ant Control Barnet. Late summer wasps at the same sweet food are covered by wasp nest removal in Mill Hill, and spiders at the same doors by spider control.
